Ubuntu's Hardy Heron comes to UMPCs

The latest Ubuntu update, codenamed Hardy Heron, has been available for download since the end of April.

But now specific versions of the operating system have been launched for UMPCs - first up for McCaslin (e.g., the Samsung Q1 Ultra) and Menlow-based (Lenovo's Ideapad U8) MIDs.

The new update features a Windows-based installer that allows Ubuntu and Windows to coexist on the same machine and a powerful new sound server.

PulseAudio is the new sound server; while this release also includes Wubi, which installs a fully functional Ubuntu environment into a folder in the Windows filesystem.

It basically allows Windows users to enter Ubuntu when they start up.

And it can be uninstalled using the Add/Remove Programs utility in Windows.

Version 8.04 for UMPCs features a Gecko-based browser with screen zooming optimised for smaller displays, Pidgin for instant messaging, GNOME's Cheese webcam application, Claws Mail eMail, and Moblin Media for music and video.